


Watch It Bloom

by BirchWood



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Adam has to make him take care of himself, Adam is also quite sassy, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First chapter is Shiro POV, Fluff, Iverson is a douche, Kid Klance, Lance and Allura don't date, Lance is only mentioned in the first chapter, M/M, Minor mention of Griffin, Season 8 can rot, Second chapter will be Keith POV, Shiro just wants what's best for Keith, Shiro works hard, They're just great friends, and a crush, broganes, but he has a good heart, keith is a punk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-27
Updated: 2019-11-27
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21579874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BirchWood/pseuds/BirchWood
Summary: But as much as he wants to see Keith happy and making friends, there’s only such much guidance he can give. Shiro hates the thought, but there are some things Keith is going to have to figure out himself, choices he’ll make that will shape the kind of person he becomes.However, that doesn’t mean he can’t give Keith a small nudge, and if Adam asks he’ll say it was a lesson in manners.
Relationships: Adam/Shiro (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 49





	Watch It Bloom

He’s just finished marking a wrong answer, and writing the final score of this student’s pop quiz at the top of the paper, when a weight settles onto the side of his chair. An arm snakes around his shoulder, and despite the insistent shake he receives he keeps his eyes focused forward. 

“Takashi,” a voice calls from over his head, a very specific and familiar tone signalling that he may be in a bit of trouble. 

He does his best to keep a smile from slipping out. He starts marking another paper, and gets shaken again, a little rougher. A small laugh escapes as his smile breaks. He looks up at Adam, who’s staring down at him, as unamused and impatient as he was when he checked on him an hour ago. 

“It’s been an hour,” he says, "you promised to take a break by now. You’ve been at this since noon.” He raises his arm off Shiro’s shoulder to run his fingers through his hair instead, scratching lightly at the scalp. Shiro sighs at the pleasant feeling, relaxing his back into the chair and sighing. He rubs at his eyes, feeling suddenly weary after staring at papers for so long. 

“I know,” he admits, “but I promised to take Keith out for lunch tomorrow since it’s a half day, and I don’t want to have to worry about it then.” Adam hums, and runs his hand down across the back of his neck and gently squeezes at the tense muscles there. “I promise I’m almost done. I just have 7 more and I’ll be finished.” 

Adam sighs, and it’s loud and exaggerated and makes him smile again. “Fine. He did do really well on his midterms so I suppose he deserves a nice treat.”

Shiro scoffs, and turns back to the papers. “You say that like you didn’t change what we were having for dinner the other day just so he could have pizza to celebrate. Softy.”

Adam scuffs him upside the back of his head, and it startles another laugh out of him. “Hello pot, my name is kettle.” Adam snarks, “you're looking awfully black and shiny today.”

Shiro grins back up at him, and is about to retort with something especially witty when there’s a sharp pounding knock on the office door. It, unfortunately, is also very specific and familiar. He and Adam stand as a unit, and Shiro organizes the papers quickly before calling out, “come in!”

Commander Iverson enters the room, and he feels his happy mood waver. He and Adam both stand at attention and give Iverson a salute, who nods in acknowledgement. “Shirogane, Wright. At ease.” They’ve barely lowered their arms before he continues. “I assume you know why I’m here?” 

He feels his brows scrunch at the clipped tone. He has a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, one that says he does know why Iverson is here, but he doesn’t want it to be true. “No, sir. I’ve been here grading papers for Professor Montagany for the past few hours. Has something happened?” 

Iverson sneers, like he thinks he’s being smart with him, before tilting his head back to yell into the hall. “Cadet, get in here! Now!” That sinking feeling in his stomach turns into a lead ball. He shares a concerned look with Adam before they both turn back to the door in time to see Keith walk in, head down and arms crossed. There’s a bruise blooming deep blue on his cheek, and small scratch marks on the back of his hands. 

He holds in a sigh as Keith shuffles meekly to stand in front of his desk. Iverson shuts the door and turns to address them. “As you can see,” his voice clips, "your cadet here was once again the instigator of another fight. This is his second offense already, one more and he’s suspended. Any more and we’ll seriously consider expulsion. This academy has no room for trouble-makers who think they can do whatever they want just because they have a little talent.”

Shiro sees Keith bunch up at the words, curling more over his crossed arms. He takes a calming breath. “What happened, Keith?” he asks softly. Keith doesn’t say anything for a moment. He glances up at Shiro, who tries to smile encouragingly, before turning back to the ground. 

Eventually he mumbles something, too quiet to hear. “Speak up, cadet.” Iverson commands. Keith grits his teeth. 

“I _said_ ,” he starts, and Shiro hopes Iverson ignores the edge in his voice, “that Griffin was being a bully, _again_ , and picking on some other kid. I was just getting him to stop.” 

Shiro frowns, and is interrupted by Iverson before he can say anything. “By punching him?” he mocks, while clearly already knowing the answer. He appears to already have his mind made up about whose fault it is, and while Shiro doesn’t agree with Keith’s methods, he also sees where he’s coming from. 

Adam apparently has a similar idea. “Is that true?” he asks Iverson, a tinge of something almost reproachful in his tone. “Was Griffin harassing another student?” Iverson turns his glare to Adam, who doesn’t waver under the harsh look. He never has. 

“That’s what the cadet claims,” he responds, “but Griffin denies it, and Kogane here won’t state who the other student involved was so I can't back up what he says.” Shiro turns to Keith at that, who is still tensed up and avoiding his gaze. 

“Why won’t you tell Iverson who the other kid is, Keith?”

Keith doesn’t look up, and after a while it’s clear he doesn’t intend to speak. At least not with Iverson here, so Shiro turns back to the man. “Commander Iverson, I agree that Keith should be held responsible for his actions.” He tries to ignore the little wince Keith fails to hide. “But if it’s true that Griffin was bullying another student, then he needs to be held responsible as well.”

He walks around the desk as he speaks and puts his hand on Keith’s back, guiding him behind himself and out of sight of Iverson. Keith goes eagerly. Quieter, he adds, “I’ll speak with Keith and see if I can find out who the other student is. Just let me talk with him, he won’t say anything if he’s being ordered to.”

Iverson lets out a sharp breath through his nose. “Very well. But in the meantime he’s on janitorial duties for a week, starting bright and early Saturday morning.” At that he turns and opens the door, not quite slamming it shut but pulling hard enough for the closed blinds to bounce against the glass. Shiro finally lets himself relax. He turns around to see Adam perched on the edge of his desk, staring at Keith who has made himself small in the desk chair. 

Before Shiro can say anything Keith smacks both his hands down on either side of him, and looks up with a frown. “It wasn’t even my fault!” He exclaims. “I was trying to do something good, and I get in trouble for it!” His cheeks are ruddy with his frustration, and Shiro almost wants to bundle him up with a hug and let him know everything’s alright, and that they can talk about it later. But, he reasons with himself. This isn’t something he can ignore. Not if he wants to prevent it from happening again. 

He turns helpless eyes to Adam, who has always had a stronger constitution when Keith’s big, sad eyes come out. Adam rolls his own eyes at Shiro, before they settle back on Keith. “What did Griffin say to the other kid?” Keith pouts, and looks down at his lap again. Adam pushes his boot against the back of the chair, making it lean on two legs. Keith scrambles to grip the arms of the chair as he’s tiled back, and glares up at Adam from his slanted position. “Tell us, or perish.” 

Shiro closes his eyes and prays for patience. And the will to not laugh. One of them needs to be the reasonable one in this relationship. Keith huffs and tries glaring harder at Adam, who stares back unperturbed. He keeps staring back until Keith breaks away, focusing on a spot on the ceiling instead. 

Eventually, he caves. “He was making fun of him in Theory class earlier when Professor Linah asked for volunteers to read out loud. He was the only one who raised his hand, but he kept having trouble pronouncing a word. Griffin told him after class to not bother volunteering if he doesn’t even know how to read.”

Shiro and Adam share another frown. Adam lets the chair thump back to the floor, but Keith stays stiff and continues to glare off into the distance. “That’s very rude,” Shiro agrees, “but it’s not really worth starting a fight over, Keith. Unless, he said something else?” Keith glares harder. Shiro leans over so he’s more in his line-of-sight. “We can only help if we know what all happened, Bud.”

Keith sinks back into the chair with a sigh, and Shiro ignores the triumphant look Adam tries throwing at him. “He was just- he’s really tiny. He’s like the shortest boy in our flight class. And it looked like he wanted to fight Griffin himself, but it also kinda looked like he was about to cry? I don’t know. He was making a weird face. So I just shoulder-bumped Griffin when I was walking by. I wasn’t gonna do anything else, but he pushed back, and that’s when we started fighting.” 

Keith crosses his arms again, but his frown softens into something a little more sorrowful. When Shiro looks back to Adam he’s got a gentle smile on his face, something warm and proud in the curl of his lips. Shiro can’t help but mirror it. He sits on the other side of the desk and ruffles Keith hair, who immediately objects and tries leaning away, but Shiro just follows after and ruffles harder. 

Before Keith can get truly upset he says, “I’m proud of you, Keith.”

Keith freezes, and looks up at him from under his bangs. He’s got a peculiar squint to his eyes, like he thinks that this is a trick. Shiro moves back and smiles back at him. When no punchline comes, he lowers his arms from their defensive position and tries tamping down his hair. 

“...Why? I got in trouble for fighting again.” Shiro nods at Keith’s quiet statement. 

“You did. But you did it for a good reason. I’m not saying I approve of you fighting, but you were sticking up for someone else, someone who may have not been able to. I know you’re capable of doing better, and I know one day you’ll learn to control you anger and deal with problems like this in a more productive way-”

“Like letting a professor know what happened, instead of just swinging fists like a gyroscope first.” Adam interrupts. Keith smiles a bit at that. 

“Yes,” Shiro agrees, though a bit exasperated, “like telling a professor first. But you were defending someone, and we will never fault you for that.”

Keith stares up at him, and it’s the same kind of look he had when Shiro promised not to ever give up on him. He tries to ignore the way his throat wants to tighten with all the emotions he can feel swelling. “Oh.” Keith says. He swings his feet a bit as he processes this information. 

“If that’s the case,” Adam says, “then this will be Griffin’s second strike too. I know that kid’s a bit of a stickler for the rules, so hopefully this’ll mellow him out. However, that’s only gonna work if the kid he was picking on gives an official statement.”

Keith immediately frowns again. “Why don’t you want to tell us?” Shiro asks. He didn’t really understand why Keith was being so hush-hush about it. Keith pouts again, but doesn’t keep the act up for as long this time. 

“I just don’t want him to get in trouble,” Keith confesses. “He did call Griffin names, so I’m sure Iverson will think that’s worthy of a strike.” Keith rolls his eyes like it’s the dumbest thing he’s ever heard. Shiro is about to reassure him when Adam breaks in with, “what names did he call him?” 

He would write it off as Adam being thorough and getting the full story, but there’s a particular glint to his eyes that he’s seen far too often. Before he can call him out on it Keith's face is lighting up with a little smirk. 

“He called him a _snooty white boy_!” Adam’s teasing look dissolves with wide eyes, before a loud snort ripped its way from him and he dissolved into full on laughter. Keith positively beams at the response. 

Keith turned to Shiro for more, but luckily he was too flabbergasted to have laughed. Though a part of him really, really wanted to. He tries to keep his face blank, but can’t quite hide the pull at the corners of his mouth. Keith smiles even wider at the sight. 

“That’s not nice,” he attempts to sound firm over Adam snorting again, “and it might cause a strike for the other boy, but if it gets Griffin to back off, and for your own punishment to lessen, it’s probably worth it.” Keith kicks his feet again and reaches out to play with the pen he was grading papers with. He wiggles it back and forth with his fingers as he contemplates.

“...Fine. But if he gets in trouble I’m blaming you two.” Adam smacks him lightly on the back of the head, much like he did with Shiro earlier. But Shiro knows it was much gentler. Keith still squares up at him, like he’s ready for another fight. Adam looks back like he’s utterly amused.

Shiro catches Keith’s attention before they can start with their dramatics. “So, who was the other boy?” Keith lets the pen flip back to the desk, looking up towards the ceiling as he thinks. 

“Uh, McClain? I think?” He scrunches his nose in uncertainty. 

“Oh,” Adam exclaims, and when Shiro looks over there’s a surprised look on his face. “Do you mean Lance?” 

Keith shrugs at him, face scrunching up again as he tries to remember. Adam hums, and adds, “really skinny, short brown hair, skin color about the same as mine?”

Keith’s face clear up, and he nods quickly. “Yeah, him!” Adam nods back, and has his _thinking face_ on.

“You know him?” Shiro asks.

Adam nods again. “Yeah, I met him once at the start of the year. You remember Veronica McClain, from our Systems Engineering class? That’s her little brother. I ran into them during orientation when I was helping set up, so we talked for a bit.” He tilts his gaze up as he thinks over the memory. “He was pretty shy. Seemed nervous, but excited. Hard to imagine him getting into a fight. He’s like the size of a peanut.” 

Keith snickers, but quickly cuts himself off when he catches Shiro’s unapproving look. “Well, I’m proud that you told us, Keith” he says, “I’ll go talk to Iverson and let him know so he can get Lance’s statement.” He stands up, only for his butt to immediately hit the desk again when Adam pushes him down at the shoulder, leveraging himself up.

“ _I'll_ go talk to Iverson,” he emphasizes, “ _you_ finish grading so we can go home. And I’ll drop this one off at the nurse’s station on the way.” He pats Keith on the head. Keith groans but obediently stands. He heads for the door and Adam leans over to press a kiss to Shiro’s cheek. “I’ll see you in a bit,” he says softly. 

Shiro smiles back at him. He shifts to his chair and scoots it back up to the desk. As Keith opens the door he calls out, “try and stay out of trouble, Bud, at least until we can go to lunch tomorrow.” Keith looks over his shoulder, surprise being overtaking by that beaming smile again. He nods and lets himself out of the office. Adam follows, but not before throwing his own look at Shiro and mouthing the word ‘sap’. 

Shiro shakes his head, laughing a bit as Adam closes the door. He heaves a deep breath as he thinks over the past twenty minutes. He’s worried about Keith getting into more trouble. His last fight with Griffin was only a couple of months ago, and even if he was standing up for someone else this time it concerns Shiro for what it could mean for his advancement in the Garrison.

Keith has far too much raw talent to be kicked out, so much potential to be something amazing. He’ll just have to make sure he knows that at lunch tomorrow.

He finishes grading the papers, and leaves them in Professor Montagany’s desk drawer within an hour. He hurries out of the office, makes sure to lock it behind himself, and starts heading for his and Adam’s apartment. They have a lot of cold leftovers to heat up, and a lot of quality time to catch up on.

~~~

It was a half-day at the Garrison, which for the professors meant time for them to catch up on grading midterm papers and preparing for next quarter’s lessons. But for the students and TA’s, it meant having a break, and Shiro fully intended to take advantage of that. He and Adam got to sleep in, and they playfully mocked the younger students who still had to go to their morning classes, remembering their own suffering as new cadets.

He has a light breakfast since he plans to indulge at lunch with Keith, and he and Adam pass an hour with a jog around the complex. They make it back to their apartment with enough time to clean up and get dressed before each of them head out. Adam is planning to spend the day with some coworkers in town, so Shiro makes sure to spoil him with affection, and a promise to meet back at the apartment later.

As he waits for Keith in the usual spot, he passes the time eavesdropping on the students who filter out of their classes, chatting excitedly about their plans for the rest of the day. Most seem to be looking forward to going back to sleep, and Shiro can’t help but grin at their enthusiasm for decent rest. 

Eventually he catches sight of Keith’s head as he weaves through the crowd, making a beeline for where Shiro is standing. Shiro smiles when he gets close, and tries to ignore the purpling bruise on his face. He turns and starts heading for the exit so they don’t block the halls, and Keith keeps pace beside him. He saves the talking for when they’re free of the noisy crowd, the white noise of voices drowning out almost everything else. He somehow thinks he hears loose change jingling in someone’s backpack.

When they make it outside and branch off from the flow of people to head to the parking lot, he glances down to Keith. “How were your classes today?” he asks.

“Boring,” he says immediately. “The only classes I had were Intro to Communications, and Spacetime Geography. We had to watch a documentary about the dirt on Mars!” His outrage is amusing enough to cause Shiro to laugh as he guides them through the crowded parking lot towards his Garrison-authorized vehicle. 

“Better than doing actual work, like back in my day. You kids get it easy now.” Keith expectantly rolls his eyes at his old man talk, and Shiro sends him a grin as he unlocks the doors and gets in. Keith hops up into the passenger’s seat, and he hears the jingling sound again. It sounds less like coins this time, more of a rattle than a jingle. He glances over as they both buckle up. “Do you have something in your pockets?”

Interestingly, Keith freezes. He must realize how incriminating that is though, because he goes back to fastening his seatbelt. But he does so while only moving his arms, keeping his body still and facing forward. It does nothing to hide the color blooming on his pale cheeks. Shiro almost takes pity from how obvious he is. Almost.

Shiro turns the car on so he can let the AC start blowing, but doesn’t bother shifting gears. Just sits patiently, staring at Keith, who bunches up his shoulder. He sits calmly as Keith’s own patience immediately drains. “What! It’s just candy!” he says defensively, blush growing darker. Shiro tries to keep his grin in check.

“That’s fine,” he agrees, smile ticking up another inch, “but the only candy you like is gummies. And those don’t sound like gummies.” Now that he’s paying attention, he notices a bright corner of plastic sticking out of Keith’s pocket, and the bumpy shape it causes in the fabric. Keith turns towards the window, so he reaches out and pokes the lump. He hears plastic crinkle loudly.

Keith smacks a hand over his pocket, making the plastic crunch even louder. He whips his head around and tries to glare at Shiro, but it’s diluted by the bashful flush on his face. Shiro raises a pointed finger again in threat, but Keith squeaks out an “okay!” before yanking the bag fully out of his pocket. Shiro stares down at the bag of red spheres clanking together in the bag.

“Cherry Sours?” Shiro reads aloud from the label. He doesn’t get why Keith is embarrassed to have these. He looks back to Keith’s face for answers, who puts the bag on candies on his lap and fiddles with the price tag peeling off of it. “Those sound good,” he tries offering, but Keith’s eyes stubbornly stay glued on the bag. He’ll just have to let Keith open up on his own.

So he turns around and focuses on guiding them out of the parking lot, trying to avoid all the people milling about. Once they’re on the road he heads for the diner, Keith’s favorite place to eat. He fills the time talking about what he and Adam did that morning for their workout, and gossips a bit about the lady who didn’t wipe the machines down when she was done. 

“You should have heard Adam,” he groans, and when he takes a peek he sees a small smile one Keith’s face. “He complained for a solid fifteen minutes, until I couldn’t take it anymore and stopped my run early just so I could go clean everything off myself. He’s ridiculous, I swear.”

“You’re the one dating him,” Keith teases. 

“Good relationships are all about compromise,” he says grimly, “and Adam is an unfairly good cook.” Keith sucks air between his teeth as he makes a face. 

“He’s alright. You just suck.”

They spend the rest of the drive bickering about Shiro’s, admittedly, failed attempts at most culinary feats. When they make it to the diner they’re early enough to where it’s not crowded yet. As they start to lock up Shiro notices Keith toss the bag of candies onto the seat as he gets ready to close the door. “You should take those in with you,” he says, “so they don’t melt.”

Keith hesitates, but plucks the bag up and sticks it back into his pocket. It rattles and crinkles all the way inside, and as they take their seats in their favorite booth in the back he catches Keith playing with a corner of the packaging, a thoughtful look on his face. Shiro smiles, small and content, and happily accepts the menus from their waitress. 

They both decide to order the diner’s largest burgers, and Keith gets a double chocolate milkshake while Shiro reluctantly settles for water. Despite claiming to be too old for it, Keith spends the time waiting for their food coloring with crayons the waitress left behind along with a kid’s menu. Keith scowled at it when it was handed to him, and pointedly ordered from Shiro’s menu, but he still doodles in the spaces between the easy puzzles and colorless pictures. 

When they get their food Shiro has to remind Keith to actually chew his bites so he doesn’t choke. They eat in pleasant silence, listening to the background noise of clanging dishes and polite voices as more people start coming in for the lunch rush. When they get down to just their fries Keith starts talking about his upcoming simulation practice exam, and how their whole class is being put into groups. 

“Apparently,” he complains, while dipping a couple of fries into his milkshake, “it'll be groups of five people. We each have to take turns rotating from pilot, to communications, to engineer, to medic, and systems specialist. Which is lame.” 

“Those are all important skills to have,” Shiro corrects, “I know you want to focus on piloting, but a great pilot knows the ins and outs of their ship, and they know how to work well with their team. It’s good for you all to at least have a little bit of knowledge in each field, in case of emergencies. Besides, it’s helpful for students who aren’t sure what they want to specialize in yet.” 

Keith stuffs the fries into his mouth instead of answering, but the furrow of his brows clearly says how he feels about that. When they finish up and head outside, Shiro reaches over and pushes all of Keith’s hair in front of his face. He squirms and starts yelling, ducking away and making a break for the car.

“You need a haircut, Keith!” He yells, walking after him at a relaxed pace. 

“No!” 

He huffs, smile softening his voice. “You look like a hoodlum!”

“ _Good_!” Keith hollers back. 

He laughs, pulling out his keys as he approaches the car. Keith stands hunched next to the passenger door, glaring like it would prevent Shiro from messing with his hair again. As they buckle up, he looks over at the sound of sharp crinkling to see Keith carefully placing the bag of candies in his lap while he adjusts his seatbelt. As they head back to the Garrison he wonders if the thought would be worth another nudge. A Keith full of food is a Keith more likely to be relaxed and open-minded. 

“Sooo...” he tries to start off as casually as possible. He sees Keith turn his head in his peripheral. “Who else is going to be in your group for the practice exams? Anyone I know?”

Keith scowls and eyes him suspiciously. Then, nearly on que with how this is going to play out in Shiro’s mind, Keith casts a look down at the bag of candies in his lap. In an instant he’s gazing back out the window, but that one glance was enough to make Shiro grin. 

“Probably not,” he mutters quietly. Shiro has to press his lips together so he doesn’t laugh. He lets Keith reach out to fiddle with the radio until his awkwardness is drowned out by whatever station they manage to pick up between the dusty sand dunes. 

He remembers being Keith’s age. He remembers when flying was all he could dream about. He remembers working hard and putting his all into learning everything he could about being a great pilot. He remembers making a promise to himself that nothing would interrupt his focus and drive. 

And he remembers a sarcastic, smart mouth cadet with shaggy hair and crooked glasses altering his path and making him question what his priorities should really be. Adam changed his life for the better, and if Keith could have someone even remotely like that, Shiro would be more than happy for him, in whatever capacity that entailed. 

But as much as he wants to see Keith happy and making friends, there’s only such much guidance he can give. Shiro hates the thought, but there are some things Keith is going to have to figure out himself, choices he’ll make that will shape the kind of person he becomes. 

However, that doesn’t mean he can’t give Keith a small nudge, and if Adam asks he’ll say it was a lesson in manners. So when they get back to the Garrison, and Keith lets the bag of candies dangle at his side as he declares he’s going to go nap, Shiro does his best to keep his expression neutral before speaking up. 

“Oh, and Keith? You made sure to thank McClain for the candy, right?” 

Keith freezes in place, and his shoulders bunch up so high Shiro spares half a thought to wonder if he’s just trying to block his ears and avoid this entire conversation. 

He spares more than a thought when Keith starts power-walking away, the candy bag smacking loudly against his leg as he scuttles to safety as fast as possible without actually running. Shiro has to give him props; he expected Keith to be a little shy on the subject. He did not expect Keith to straight-up run away without even casting a single glance his way. 

He laughs, and makes sure Keith makes it inside the building before heading towards the dorm block, twirling his keys around a finger and wondering if Adam is back yet. He wants to see what kind of intel he can get about the boy who managed to catch his pupil’s attention. Keith was right earlier in that he doesn’t actually know McClain, but he’ll be sure to keep an eye out for him from now on. Anyone that could fluster Keith like that was sure to be an interesting kid.


End file.
